Nippon Open Results

March 09, 2005

Shaun White added another victory to his long list of wins at this past weekend’s Nippon Open superpipe finals. Torah Bright won the women’s superpipe finals with Kelly Clark taking second and Hannah Teter in third. Natasza Zurek was the event’s sole slopestyle champion after the men’scompetition was cancelled due to weather.

Thousands of screaming snowboard fans packed alongside the pipe to see snowboard superstars Antti Autti, Andy Finch and Shaun White battle for the top spot. Shaun White kept changing up his runs until he finally got the winning combo – afrontside 9, McTwist , frontside 1080, Cab 7, frontside 7 ending with a Cab 9. The crowd went crazy and everyone was stoked to see Shaun on the podium with a win. In the women’s contest, Torah stepped up her run dropping into a Shaun White like McTwist to big frontside 5 with smooth style that earned her the top spot.

Due to weather, the men’s slopestyle finals were cancelled. But the women’s contest took place with Natasza Zurek dominating the course. Natasza has won or have been on the podium at all the major slopstyle contest this year and the Nippon Open was no exception. Her switch backside 5 and frontside 5 were enough to win. Hannah Teter had a backside 3 and big straight airs to take second while IzumiAmaike took third.

In addition to a big check, Nippon Open champions win an expense-paid trip to the US Open at Stratton, Vermont from March 18-20.

Women’s Superpipe Results

1. Torah Bright

2. Kelly Clark

3. Hannah Teter

4. Keiko Okura

5. Michiyo Hashimoto

Men’s Superpipe Results

1. Shaun White

2. Antti Autti

3. Risto Mattila

4. Mason Aguirre

5. Andy Finch

Women’s Slopestyle Results

1. Natasza Zurek, Burton

2. Hannah Teter, Burton

3. Izumi Amaike

4. Etsuko Tominaga

5. Rina Ookouchi

The Open Snowboarding Championships are the pinnacle snowboarding events of the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the Opens have grown from grassroots events to global spectacles attracting tens of thousands of spectators and riders fromaround the world. Since the beginning, the Opens have been driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders’ needs over the years. The Opens welcome all riders to compete, giving locals, amateurs and pros an equal shot ata world-class title. With events held in Europe, Japan, the United States and New Zealand, the Opens set the standard for snowboarding events around theglobe.